


5 days

by dominique012



Category: Lewis (TV)
Genre: Dating, Gen, Jealousy, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-08
Updated: 2014-01-08
Packaged: 2018-01-07 23:44:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1125792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dominique012/pseuds/dominique012
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>You could try a shirt that fits, you know.</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	5 days

**Author's Note:**

> My first Lewis fic, originally written for a 2011 Lewis fanworks challenge on LJ. Just brought it over to my a03.

_Monday_

 

7.30 am. Lewis walked briskly across the park, drawing his coat tightly around him.

He saw a familiar lanky figure standing next to a young woman near the bike path. Hathaway was already questioning her and scribbling away in his notebook. Lewis gave him a quick nod as he arrived, but stood back.

“You didn’t notice what time he came home?”

Lewis’ gaze fell to the ground, his eyes narrowing as he saw a familiar brand of cigarette butt dropped on the grass.

The young woman looked up and shook her head. “I was still out with some friends. I assumed he was already asleep when I got in.” She buried her hands in the pockets of her short woollen dress. Her bare legs gleamed in the morning sun, and Lewis felt cold just looking at her. She leaned in towards Hathaway, looking up at him, teeth pressed into her lower lip.

“It was a late drink. Have you been to _Mojito_? They do brilliant cocktails.”

Hathaway jotted it down and shook his head. Lewis frowned. She wasn’t exactly being subtle. He looked away at the road. Drivers stuck in morning traffic looked glumly back at him.

“You should go sometime...” She smiled hopefully. “It’s very - intimate.”

Lewis rubbed his brow and hid a grimace. Hathaway finally looked up and said evenly, “Thank you. We’ll call you if we need to speak again.”

She nodded, disappointed eyes downcast.

Lewis had already started for the car, Hathaway just two long strides behind him.

“You certainly have a way, don’t you?”

Hathaway quirked an eyebrow. “Sir?”

Lewis jerked his head back towards the girl, who was rejoining her friends. “Your friend over there. Would have loved to take you for a Mai-Tai.”

Hathaway gave a mock shudder. “No thank you, Sir.” He looked back for a moment. “She’s a bit young and...” He frowned.

Lewis paused to look at him, his hand on the car door. “And?”

A shrug. “A bit young.” Hathaway tucked his notebook away.

***

_Tuesday_

 

Hathaway was sleepy.

They were waiting for take away coffees on the way back from a series of long and mostly fruitless interviews. Hathaway was leaning against the wall of the crowded cafe, rubbing his eye with the heel of one hand.

He yawned and stretched his arm over his head. His shirt rode up, exposing a patch of pale torso. Lewis shook his head, wondering, not for the first time, about Hathaway’s shirts.

“You alright there?”

Hathaway blinked down at him “Yes Sir. Late night.”

“Here you go.”

A waitress slid their coffees across the counter.

Lewis inspected his cup. ‘James’ was scrawled on the side. “They know you here?”

Hathaway dropped a sugar into his. “They always ask when they’re busy. I suppose it helps them keep track.” He pressed the lid down.

Lewis frowned. “And what’s that?”

Hathaway frowned down at his own cup. “I don’t know. Paige,” he read. He looked up at Lewis. “And a phone number.” He frowned. “Who’s Paige?”

Lewis glanced around, before settling on the barista. She looked covertly at them under her fringe, while industriously tamping coffee. “Her...I’m guessing. You seem to have made an impression.”

Hathaway made a face and a non-commital _Hmm._

Lewis headed for the door. “You could try a shirt that fits, you know.”

“Sir?”

***

_Wednesday_

“How’s it going, then?”

Laura looked up from the corpse, her face concealed by a surgical mask and shiny plastic goggles. “Same as always - stomach contents. Tissue samples.”

He nodded with a wince. “Lovely.”

She looked behind him, towards the door. “Where’s your handsome Sergeant?”

He snorted. “Not you too.”

She looked at him with what he assumed was a puzzled expression behind the goggles.

“Sergeant Hathaway has already been turning heads this week. I think he’s gone out to get us a sandwich. Hopefully there won’t be a swooning female following him back.”

Laura moved away from the body and removed her paraphernalia. “Well, I suppose it’s only natural.” She looked amused. “Why so sour?”

“Who’s sour? It’s just been...” He shrugged.

She grinned, her eyebrows raised. “Alright, Robbie.” She glanced at the file in his hands. “Why don’t I call you when I have something. You go and have your lunch.”

He ignored her annoyingly patient tone. “Right,” he said briskly. “Good. Thanks.”

***

_Thursday_

 

“I’ll be off then Sir.”

Lewis looked up from the untidy scramble of papers on his desk. “You’re just going to leave me this lot?”

Hathaway regarded him coolly from the doorway. “Well, I did the three you fobbed over this afternoon.”

Lewis looked over and saw the neat Hathaway-style sheaf at one end of the table. He sighed, adding a slight eyeroll that was more or less for effect. “Alright, go on”

Hathaway grinned. “Thank you, Sir.” He didn’t move from his slouch on the doorframe.

Lewis looked at him, noticing that he was wearing a new shirt. It was light blue, and this one didn’t fit him properly either. “You’re going out?”

Hathaway looked sideways. “Yes, sir.”

A thought flashed through Lewis’ mind. “Change your mind about the Mai-Tai?”

Hathaway smirked. “No, Sir. Someone else. Dinner.”

Lewis nodded towards the hallway. “Alright then - before I change my mind.”

Grinning, Hathaway pushed himself off the wall and headed out.

***  
Lewis stepped out, the cold evening air refreshing after an afternoon cooped up at his desk. He half expected the welcome-yet-unwelcome smell of cigarette smoke to curl past.

His stomach rumbled, reminding him that it was time for dinner. He started walking down the quiet road, puffs of his breath visible in the near-dark.

Indian, he mused. Or Thai. The food tasted great, but he felt funny pronouncing - or mispronouncing - the dishes.

He saw the little Thai place up ahead. Hathaway had taken him, convinced him to try something new. He quickened his step. Pad Thai. Easy enough.

The attractive young woman near the door took his takeaway order and invited him to sit down and wait. Lewis stood by the window, reluctant to sit down again after stretching his legs. He looked around the restaurant. It wasn’t crowded - the few diners had some space to move about, or huddle together, as one couple towards the back was doing.

Lewis frowned into the dimly-lit room, and then cursed quietly before sidling closer to the window.

Hathaway and his date. They were seated near the wall, a small table with a tiny candle. A couple of plates of food lay on the table between them, and Lewis saw Hathaway’s companion picking at it with a fork.

Lewis willed them not to notice him. He looked out hopefully for the arrival of his dinner, but it didn’t appear forthcoming.

He sighed and hazarded another glance. Hathaway was smiling, and seemed animated. He looked surprisingly...chatty. He was sitting very straight in his chair, gesturing, perhaps explaining something. There was more eyebrow movement than usual, Lewis noted with amusement.

Lewis looked out at the street. He supposed Hathaway needed that. Someone to look forward to. Eat, relax, have fun with. At work, Hathaway was thoughtful, focused, passionate at times. Lewis glanced back again.

Now he was so...grinny. It was a bit perturbing. Lewis looked at the young woman. It was difficult to see her face without staring. She had dark hair, and - he attempted to peer with discretion - chopsticks in her hairdo.

He started to turn away, but was startled by a loud laugh. Hathaway’s companion exclaimed and grabbed his arm with another giggle.

Lewis felt suddenly very impatient for his dinner. He’d never imagined Hathaway with a giggly woman. He shook his head. He’d never imagined Hathaway with anyone, had he?

He wryly recalled all the attention Hathaway had been getting. He was intense and intelligent. Attractive...presumably. He could probably pick and choose. Lewis rubbed his face, bewildered at the bizarre turn his mind had taken.

The woman returned with a bag full of fragrant food. “Ah, lovely.” Lewis took it and departed, relieved.

He slowly walked back towards his car, thoughts of Hathaway’s type still stuck in his brain. _Fine_ , he told himself. _Go there, think it through, then let it go_.

Not a giggler. Intelligent, of course. Interested in music, perhaps. Someone with a fair amount of life experience, someone who could complement Hathaway’s intensity.

Lewis stopped in front of his car. He got in.

He frowned. Not a giggler with chopsticks in her hair.

***  
 _Friday_

Lewis drummed his pen on the desk impatiently. _tap, tap, tap, tap._

He looked at his watch. He wasn’t waiting for Hathaway.

Innocent popped her head in. “Seen James? I just need to - “

“No. Haven’t seen him yet. “ He spoke too quickly, cutting her off. Innocent paused, an eyebrow raised.

He took a deep breath, and said more calmly, “Any minute now I’m sure.”

“‘Morning M’am.” Hathaway slipped into the room beside her.

“Oh, there you are -” and with a glance to Lewis -”Just in time. Could you call P.C. Brown? Something about DNA matching.”

“Thank you M’am.”

She departed, and Hathaway settled in at his desk. Lewis watched his face for any signs of romantic elation. And then felt like an alien for doing it.

Hathaway looked up to meet his gaze. “Good Morning, Sir.”

Lewis nodded “James.” He looked blankly at his desk for his moment. “How was your date?” The words tumbled out of his mouth, out of his control.

Hathaway frowned, opened his mouth, then shut it. He nodded slowly. “It was alright.”

“‘Alright’?” It had looked more than alright. It had looked pretty cosy. Lewis felt annoyed. Why didn’t he just say?

Hathaway nodded. “Yeah. She’s a lovely woman. We’ve quite a lot in common.”

Lewis snorted. “‘Alright’ doesn’t have a real promise to it.”

“Maybe not.” He looked thoughtfully at Lewis. “It was...” he began slowly. “Quite an effort. A lot of big smiles.”

Lewis felt his annoyance start to give way. To what he wasn’t quite sure.

“It was nice, but I wasn’t myself.” He squirmed in his chair and looked around the room. “Which is alright, but not...great.”

He met Lewis’ eyes and grinned.

Lewis exhaled. “Fair enough,” he said brightly. “So no weekend plans with her then?”

Hathaway shook his head. He gave a mock-wink. “Looks like I’m all yours tonight, Sir.”

Something in Lewis’ chest jumped, but he replied automatically with a straight face, “Right. I’ll make sure to choose a posh restaurant.”

Hathaway laughed as he reached for his notebook.

The sound sent equal parts of panic and euphoria chasing through Lewis’ body.

“Fridays,” he said. “I like Fridays.”

tbc


End file.
